Cheating Death
by Mntdewm
Summary: Self Insert. Suicide Warning. A 17 year old man kills himself while wishing for a second chance at life. He has cheated death and come around again in a new time and place. How will he affect the world of Percy Jackson. First attempt at fanfiction. Please Review.
1. Chapter 1

_**Warning for references to suicide.**_

Chapter 1:

I've always wished to turn back the clock, to have a second chance. From when i was child, thinking if i could start from the start again, and fix my mistakes. These thoughts grew with me and every mistake i made, both big and small. I never thought of how i would fix things, just that i would, if only i was given a second chance. Eventually these thoughts caught up with me, i was drinking at my mates house, walking across a nearby bridge, and i remember myself thinking, what if i did it, what if i just jumped. Normally when i have these thoughts i think of a meme or joke and then continue on, this time i didn't. Maybe i got too drunk, maybe i finally built up the courage, or maybe my own thoughts finally caught up with me. Either way i did it, it happened. 17 and dead, whatever.

I didn't expect to come back. I was 9 a second time when it started, it was slow at first, but in dreams and whispers i came. First it was the thought that something was off, My body didn't feel right, short and disproportionate, eye, hair and skin just shades off what i felt they should be.

I was 12 by the time it fully hit me. I was on my way back to boarding school, something i had never experienced in my past life. Probably for the best though considering my mother, new mother that is. Turns out my (new) father's some rich CEO or something and he was having an affair with my mother, got her pregnant then disappeared. He still sends her enough money to keep quiet but besides that we haven't heard from him. Far cry from my past life wherein my dad was always a core part of my life. Anyway my mother, on her good days she's fine, as loving and caring as any mother should be, on her bad ones though, she sees me as a living reminder of my father, she becomes lethargic, depressed, or even angry. It wasn't a smooth transition between "me" and i guess we can call other me Jack, because that's my name now i guess. Anyway it wasn't in anyway smooth as me and jacks consciousness hit each other like two anime characters firing off their special moves. That lasted for a couple days, and let me tell you, it isn't fun having a massive headache at the same time as you start at a new school.

Eventually me and Jack thought it out, we coalesced into something new, not quite "me" but not quite Jack. By then as it were my school reputation was already tarnished. No one really liked the weird kid who never seemed to be paying attention. Even after my mind settled i honestly didn't care about going through school again, last time i didn't really care and nothing seemed to have changed. I ended up falling in with two kids called Percy and Grover. Something made me feel drawn to them, a tickling in my mind as if they were somewhat familiar. After a time i dealt with my grief over my past life and settled into a Rhythm. Life was alright, though one of my main hobbies was unavailable this time around. Turns out i'm dyslexic now, which i thought of as a way for whoever gave me a second chance to hint that i should read less.

But like any good story everything changed on a certain fateful day. We were heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a field trip. I was talking with Percy and Grover as i usually did these days, for once being the mature one of my friend group. Then out of nowhere the school bitch Nancy Bobofit started throwing bits of her sandwich at my mate Grover, Now in my past life i wasn't the confrontational sort and this time around nothing changed. So i sat there and watched as one of my good mates got picked on. Percy on the other hand looked ready to punt Nancy. Grover managed to calm him down, mentioning that he liked peanut butter, as if that mattered. Still better than what i did, sitting there as a coward. We managed to make it too the museum without Percy killing Nancy at least.

The tour was alright, i was a fan of ancient history in my past life and this time it was the same. I was so enraptured by the artifacts that i wasn't even paying attention until Percy said, "Will you shut up?" once i heard that i turned around quick. Infact everyone on the tour did.

Mr Brunner proceeded to dig into percy then, asking him a question in front of the whole class. As they spoke of an ancient god Titan guy called Kronos i had a stirring in my gut, the feeling that this was important. I listened in as Mr Brunner went over Kronos' kid eating adventures. I bet that guy wished he figured out the magic of abortions. Percy trailed behind a bit as we all headed to lunch, talking with Mr Brunner before catching up to us.

…

Here i was, sitting with my friends as we talked by the fountain. I finished off my lunch quick, my appetite gone as something settled in my gut, something was off. I started pacing, going back and forth as i chatted away when Nancy and her cronies came over, the gall of her to just walk over and dump her lunch right over Grover. Next thing i know water reached out of fountain and pulled her into it. I was freaking out, that sorta stuff only happens in movies, logically it made sense, if i could be reincarnated then other weird stuff could start happening. Still, it was my first time seeing anything like that and I was too busy freaking out to notice Ms Dodds come over and walk off with Percy. Infact, by the time i had calmed down both Percy and Ms Dodds had disappeared into the museum. Grover was over by Mr Brunner probably trying to plead Percies case and take the blame as he usually did. It took me another moment to realize this was really bad, Percy was on thin ice as is, and if he got in another trouble he might end up suspended, or worse.

This was it, i was wracked with indecision on what to do, but i finally decided, 'screw it, i wasn't brought back so i could sit on the sidelines.' and with my resolve hardened i entered the museum. My plan was that i would claim i pushed Nancy, since i was in Ms Dodds' good books for some reason hopefully this would get me and Percy both off.

'Alright Jack this is go time, now let's go find Miss Dodds.' I was trying to psyche myself up as i walked into the museum, my gut was rolling at this point, i wasn't sure whether something was really off or i was just getting Anxious. I turned the corner and i didn't expect what i saw at all. Percy, a bronze sword in his hand as Miss Dodds, or what i assume must've been her, was turned into some sort of monstrous hag demon harpy. I was nearly paralyzed with fear. The thing was turning back around toward Percy for another pass. 'I was done being a coward' went through my head as i reacted.

Reacting fast, faster than i ever had before, i grabbed an urn off a table and rushed toward the thing. As i ran i swung the urn around, throwing it as i shouted. "PERCY, MOVE!" The urn flew right into Ms Dodds, knocking her off course as she flew toward my best friend. Then percy moved, just not in the way i thought he would, he swung the sword in his hands at Ms Dodds as she flew past. The sword cut through her like butter and she exploded, spilling gold dust everywhere.

I nearly had a panic attack as the adrenaline wore off. Percy wasn't faring much better, his face white and his knuckles clenched around the sword turned pen in his hand. It was only when an alarm went off that i was shaken out of my stupor. Probably a bad idea to smash that urn. Well as the saying goes, in for a penny, in for a pound. "Percy man, we gotta go!"

He looked at me for a moment before i grabbed his arm and sprinted past him toward the entrance of the museum. A moment later he replied with a quiet "yeah" before following along.

We ran out of the building, it was strangely devoid of people as we made our exit. Outside we found it had started to rain. Grover was back to sitting by the fountain, though now with a museum map hat. I was about to ask Percy what that thing was in the museum when Nancy noticed us, she was still wet from her little swim. She turned toward Percy and said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."

Percy responded slowly with "Who?" while i stood by, confused as to who the hell Mrs. Kerr was.

Nancy responded straight away, with no visible hesitation. "Our teacher. Duh!" She waited a moment for a response before losing interest and going back to her friends.

"Any idea what she was talking about? Infact while we're at it, what the HELL was that thing in there?" my voice emphasized as i asked Percy.

He looked at me for a moment, startled a little by my raise voice before responding, "I don't know, Ms. Dodds just turned into that thing and tried to attack me, good thing Mr Brunner threw me this pen sword thing."

"Wait, Mr Brunner was there? I don't remember seeing him when i walked into your fight with the wicked witch." was my response, trying to calm myself down with a joke. If Percy saw Mr Brunner there he must know something, but at the same time he might be working with Ms. Dodds, either way i'm not letting that lead go.

"Yeah, he threw me the pen-sword and shouted something. He must've disappeared while we were fighting off that thing." said Percy.

"Well in that case he should know something, anyway we should keep a tight lip on this whole event, if there are more like her around we don't want to tip them off." Percy shudders a little when i say that. "Either way you should keep that pen on you, it might come in handy if we run into anything else like her, considering it went through her like butter."

Percy nodded in agreement before turning to look at our friend Grover, who has now begun to walk over to us.

Percy proceeded to near instantly give it away by asking Grover where Ms Dodds was.

Grovers response was the same as Percy a few minutes ago. "Who?" though even a fool could tell by the way he shuffled his feet and how he wouldn't look right at percy when he said it that he was lying.

Percy looked ready to continue but i put a hand on his shoulder which seemed to silence him.

I quickly switched the topic to talking about our plans for school holidays, breaking the awkward silence.


	2. Chapter 2

I managed to keep Percy quiet about what happened until we made it to our dorm. Occasionally on our way back though Grovers eyes seemed to stick on me. He definitely knew something.

Mr Brunner also approached Percy at one point to ask for his pen, though Percy claimed to have lost it. Percy ended up getting a talking to about losing other peoples stuff but he managed to hold onto the pen.

The school year seemed to pass from then without major incident. Percy seemed to be losing his marbles as the it went on though, especially whenever he brought up Ms Dodds with anyone else and they had no clue.

I however spent a lot of my time keeping an eye on Mrs Kerr, and researching sightings of monsters, seeing if i could glean any information on what Ms Dodds was. I didn't have much success with that, it seemed the internet was scrubbed clean on any related information.

The weather seemed to be going crazy though, storms were quite common and in one of them the windows of our dorm were blown out.

Close to the end of the year though, me and Percy ended up in an incident involving Nancy Bobofit. Turns out me and Percy aren't coming back next year because of that, she's backed off at least.

As finals began their approach Percy started studying for Mr Brunner's Latin test. Surprising for him, considering i've never seen him put effort that much effort into any of his classes before.

While studying one night Percy lost it. After calming down he decided to go ask Mr Brunner for help, i decided to follow along, if nothing else i would have have a chance to glean more information about Mr Brunner.

We headed downstairs to the faculty offices, Mr Brunner's door was the only one open, bleeding light into the dark hallway. We were approaching the doorway when we heard Grover's voice, "... worried about Jack and Percy, sir."

That stopped us dead cold.I looked at Percy and brought my finger up to my mouth for quiet and listened in. "...Danger this summer" Grover was saying, "...A Kindly One in school! They're starting to figure it out on their own, and now that we know for sure…"

"We would only make it worse by rushing them," Mr Brunner responded. "We need them to mature more."

"What about the summer solstice deadline?"

"That can be resolved without them, let them enjoy their youth while they still can."

"Sir, I…. I can't fail again." Grover said, his voice choking with emotion. "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr Brunner kindly stated. "I should've foreseen it happening... Now let's just focus on keeping them alive till next fall-"

Percy's book hit the ground with a dull thud, his face stark white. No time to think i grabbed Percy with one hand and swept his book off the ground with the other before speeding down the hallway.

We ran so fast toward the stairs i could swear we were teleporting through the shadows, we made it all the way to the end of the hallway before Mr Brunner's doorway had even opened.

Once me made it to our Dorm room i quietly shut the door before turning around to Percy, and voice shaking i said. "We didn't hear anything, we don't know anything, we weren't in that hallway alright!"

Percy's response was that of a shaky nod, startled by raised voice. "Don't tell anyone… got it."

Seeing this i made a conscious effort to calm myself, taking a few deep breaths before i spoke again. "Either way, they both know something, we need to keep an eye on them…"

Percy was opening his mouth to speak when i heard the distinct tapping noise of Grover moving down the hall… I threw Percy's book back to him and flopped down on my own bed, before grabbing the nearest book off my nightstand. By the time Grover opened the door we were already in position, acting as if nothing had happened.

Grover turned to me in suspicion and asked, "Hey Jack, i didn't know you could read upside down?"

"Yeah man, i read online it might help with my Dyslexia." was my attempt at a chill response.

Grover's eyes narrowed slightly before he continued. "Anyway do you two think you'll be ready for Mr Brunner's test? I think i've got a pretty good chance this year myself" He trailed off as he noticed Percy's unusually pale face. "Hey man, i'm sure you'll be fine, with all the studying you've done i think you could ace it."

"Yeah…" Percy's response was quiet and unsure, but afterward he rolled over and fell asleep, ending the conversation.

…

Considering the bombshells dropped last night i think i did a pretty good job on the latin test. I ended up leaving before nearly everyone else because of that, i shouldn't get too prideful though, considering my competition consisted of prepubescent children. Since Percy was still in the classroom Grover and i decided to wait for him.

Grover bridged the silence between us. "Hey man, uhh, there's something i've been thinking about and i'm sorta worried about you and Percy. You guys keep going on about Mrs Dodds or whoever like two crazy people, talking about monsters and stuff, in fact i heard Percy talk about it in his sleep last night and uhh… I just think you should drop it, before it gets you in trouble or worse."

I narrowed my eyes at Grover as he spoke, he knows something, and if i want to get answers i have to confront him about it now… "Grover… I can tell that you know about Mrs Dodds, what she is and all this stuff surrounding her. You and Mr Brunner are hiding something. Now you can either let me in on what's going on or you can stop pretending to be my friend!" i snapped. Seeing my temper flaring, i tried to calm the blood rushing through me by taking a couple deep breaths. As i did i noticed Grover's eyes looking down at his feet as they shuffled, i saw his mouth open and close a couple times. I squashed the guilt bubbling within me and waited.

After an awkward silence Grover opened his mouth and started to speak in a hushed tone. "Jack i-" and that was when Percy all but stormed through the door, before running off down the hall.

I turned back around toward Grover momentarily before Sprinting after Percy.

I found Percy back in our dorm room soon after. He was pacing back and forth, his face red. opened the door slowly before asking, "Hey man, are you alright? You took off pretty quick just now."

Percy stopped his pacing and turned toward me. "Yeah... it's just that all year Mr Brunner kept pushing me all year, showing me that he believed in me and then as i was leaving he called me back, and right in front of everyone he said that i wasn't normal, and that this wasn't the right place for me!" As he spoke his voice changed, from sadness to anger.

Now that actually pissed me off, Percy's just a kid, his teacher shouldn't be putting him down like that, that's how you get people to give up, just like i did. With a raised, angry voice i spoke. "Mr Brunner might not think your good enough, well he can get fucked! He's just trying to bring you down, his opinion doesn't matter. And maybe you don't belong here. But that's not because your worthless, thats just because you're meant for something greater." i told Percy, Conviction oozing from my voice.

His response was awkward but he seemed to be cheered up. "Yeah, i guess you're right, thanks man, your a great friend, i'm really gonna miss you next year…"

"How could i claim to be your best friend if i didn't help you when you needed it, you know? Anyway next year i'm sure we'll be able to figure something out, i got kicked out as well, just like you did." And with that our conversation shifted to our plans after the school year ended.

Grover appeared soon behind me and after checking that Percy was alright the three of us went back to normal, our conversation in the hall before put to rest for a time.

…

Finals week, and with it the school term, had finally ended. Grover, Percy and i were on a greyhound heading back to the city, a melancholy was sitting over us as we reminisced on the year. It was then i noticed Grover was acting even more nervous then he had been lately, eyes darting over the other passengers and back to us. I was contemplating how to broach the subject, remembering our unfinished conversation from before, when Percy did it for me.

"Looking for Kindly Ones?" Percy directed at Grover, no doubt sounding snider then he meant it to be.

Grover practically jumped out of his seat at hearing Percy, and it was that which sealed his fate, there was no way he was convincing either of us that he didn't know anything. "Wha- what do you mean?" was his attempt at a recovery.

I jumped into the Conversation at that, i planned to go all out, as this was probably my last chance at getting information off Grover. "Grover, we heard you talking with Mr Brunner the other night. We know you two are connected to whatever happened to Ms Dodds, the charade is up, just tell us what you know, keeping us in the dark about what's going on isn't going to help when another one of those monsters, another Kindly One, comes after us again."

Grover looked defeated at that, he looked at Percy for confirmation before turning back to me. "You don't know how wrong you are. Your just gonna have to trust me, i can't tell you what you want to know, it would just put you in more danger then you're already in." he paused at that, reaching into his shirt pocket before pulling out what looks to be a couple business cards. "Look, just take these, if you see anything like Ms Dodds again, try and contact me alright." He hands the cards over to us.

After a few false starts due to the fancy writing i manage to decode it.

 _Grover Underwood_

 _Keeper_

 _Half-Blood Hill_

 _Long Island, New York_

 _(800) 009-0009_

I read it over and committed it to memory, before putting it away in my pocket. I then turned toward Grover, intent on continuing the conversation, and that was when our bus broke down.

 _ **A.N:**_

This chapter wasn't as good as i would've liked but i wanted to pump it out sooner rather then later. Special thanks for Death Fury and Oompaloo for Favoritingmy story, it helps a lot.


	3. Chapter 3

The smell of rotting eggs filled my nostrils as black smoke poured into the Greyhound from the dashboard. The driver cursed as he limped the bus toward the roadside.

After pulling the bus over the driver climbed off, and after a quick look at the engine, asked everyone to get off the bus.

I filed off after Percy, following along as we maneuvered past the main crowd surrounding the bus.

We stopped a distance from the bus, finally giving me a chance to take in my surroundings, Trees and trash were the main attractions of this roadside stretch. It was only when my eyes drifted to the far side that i noticed a fruit stand, plopped under a maple tree its produce glistened in the sunlight, apples and oranges shining almost unnaturally. The same could not be said for the three owners of the stand, They were old, but even that word is an understatement when describing them, even across four lanes of traffic i could still count the individual wrinkles on their faces.

At this point alarm bells were going off in the back of my head, i was supposed to know something here, but i had no clue, it was as if my brain was swiss cheese. I took a closer look, the aged care escapees seemed to be knitting, working away at a pair of giant socks.

"-Those socks would fit me?" I heard Percy's voice. I turned my body toward him at that, though still keeping the stand in my vision.

He was speaking to Grover, whose face had turned a pale white, A striking contrast to Percy's relaxed expression. "Not funny Percy, not funny at all…" Grovers response took an anxious tone, he was clearly worried about something.

My eyes shifted back toward the stand as i noticed movement, the middle lady had now brandished a pair of scissors, they were large, though not as upscaled as the socks were, they shined in the midday sun, one blade gold and the other silver.

I heard a hitch of breath from Grover, His voice shaking as he spoke. "Come on, we're getting back on the bus." He was already moving, Crutches propelling him forward.

It was at this point that Percy mentioned something about the heat, but i didn't care to hear, my attention was focused entirely on the stand.

My blood was pumping and my instincts were screaming but my body wouldn't move, all sound had bled away, and i stared ahead, staring at the fates as their eyes locked with mine. I remembered them, my mind coughing up memories, but they were fragmented, like shards of painted glass spinning in my mind. I could see parts of the picture, but not the whole. Their expressions had changed, they were still staring right at me, but as they did i noticed their lips had flicked up into a smirkish smile. The scissors were slowly brought up, before closing around the the yarn. The sound of a single _snip_ filled my ears and with that the entire world rushed back.

I stood there for what felt like an eternity, blankly staring across the road as cars drove past. It was only when i heard Percy's voice in my ear did i look up. "Jack! Come on we've gotta go, the bus is working."

My response was a shaky nod, and an even shakier, "Y-yeah…" but i began to move toward the bus. Feeling returned to my body as we moved. The first thing i noticed were my hands, my fingers were curled under my palms, which were themselves sweaty.

Percy turned to me and spoke as we walked toward the bus. "Hey man, are you alright? You look like you're about to throw up."

I waved him off and mustered as much confidence in my voice as i could. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He was silent after that, though i doubted he actually believed me…

We climbed on the bus soon after, finding Grover in the same seat as before. Percy sat down next to him, and i across the aisle.

The Greyhound pulled away from the curb, and i began to silently put the pieces together in my mind.

if the fates existed then it was likely that the rest of the greek pantheon existed alongside them. With that revelation my mind coughed up more memories of ancient greek mythos. Filling my head with all sorts of myths and adventures.

This kept me occupied for most of the bus ride.

…

We arrived at the bus station and made our way off without incident, a somewhat foreign idea, as where i lived in the past trains were the main method of long distance transportation, and while there were bus stops, there was nothing as large as this wholly dedicated to bus based transportation.

I had only half listened to the conversations of my friends as we traveled, it mostly consisted of Grover's nervous rambling so i didn't really feel the need, especially considering my revelation during the journey.

After we exited the bus stop we slowly parted ways. First, Grover had to head over to the toilet, but not before telling us to wait up for him. Percy decided to scrap his advice, and while standing out the front he hailed the first taxi that drove past. I let him go without protest, he wasn't the only one that wanted to get home as soon as possible.

I sat by the curb, waiting for Grover. Silently spouting lyrics within my own mind. 5 minutes in he made his appearance, interrupting my rendition of the offspring.

"Yo." I waved toward him as he approached.

"Hey…" He trailed off as he looked around, searching for something. After a moment he turned back to me, asking nervously "Uh, where's Percy?"

I shrugged before saying. "He headed home, why?"

"I told you both to wait for me, i can't believe you let him go like that! You both don't realize the danger your in."

Now that annoyed me. "What danger? It would be great if you told us about this danger instead of keeping it to yourself like you have been."

Grover rubbed his temples as he let out a sigh before speaking. "We've been over this Jack, i can't just tell you what's going, you just have to trust me."

My response was a simple "whatever." i was done arguing with Grover, there was no point anyway, i already knew most of everything.

Grover was quiet off that, he probably was expecting an extended argument, rather then a single word followed by silence.

As i stood up i noticed something from the corner of my eye, An exceptionally tall security guard, standing a foot taller than anyone else. Normally that wouldn't give me a cause for concern, but he seemed to be trying to subtly move towards us, it can't be said to be working, considering i noticed that fact.

"Uhh... Grover, did you do anything inside i should know about?" i say, standing up fully.

"No, why?" he nervously responds.

I respond silently, nodding my head a single time toward the guard. Looking at him again my sense of unease heightened, maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me but he seemed to be growing bigger as he approached.

Grover's breath hitched when he saw the guard. With a nervous cadence he spoke. "Alright which way's your house? We've gotta get out of here."

I sprung into action at that, grabbing my suitcase i tried to casually walk away. "Come on, it's just this way…" Grover seemed to pick up the pace beside me.

As we were moving further away i heard a yell, closer to a roar than anything else, i turned around to see the security guard, now standing eight feet tall, barreling towards us. His hat flew off his head in the wind, showing a bald head and a single, beady eye staring back at me.

"RUN!" i shouted, lifting my suitcase into my arms as i took off down the street.

 ** _Authors note:_**

Sorry about the delay, i sort of forgot this existed, thanks to Disastrous Cerberus for reminding me of this story.


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